


Existence Anew

by SpaceKatdet



Category: Warframe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-09-01 15:39:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceKatdet/pseuds/SpaceKatdet
Summary: A chance meeting between Tenno's. One fights for herself, the other fights her own existence, the Void pulling the strings.





	1. Fish In A Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NoxCorvid](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=NoxCorvid).



> This work was started after NoxCorvid and I, with her getting the ball rolling, into head-canon for our Tenno and Frames into the world of Warframe. The following is a result of that. This takes place in a post-current content Warframe timeline, which as I'm trying to be careful, a major lore update could sway a lot of things, so hopefully I'd be able to work them in canonically. 
> 
> Thank you Tenno for reading.  
> Enjoy.

The market on Cetus had been bustling for weeks, but today, it seemed rather scarce. The recent ghoul threat on the plains was mostly over after finding a central core where a lot of the ghouls had been multiplying. With a heavy sigh, Vhessa continued on, although all people outside saw was Mint, her Frost warframe. 

On a day like today, she could browse through what books and datacores she could find. Passing a few other Tenno in their frames, she made her way towards her favourite vendor. As she walked up, Ivogora smiled and immediately went to pull up wares that had been sitting behind her. Though old, she was still full of light and happiness, able to share in knowledge with another. 

“Hello little one. Good to see you again. Had a fresh shipment now that things have calmed down the last couple days.” Her smile deepened. 

Mint nodded, took her hands in Mint’s and bowed. “It is good to see you, old friend. Though, not so small.” 

She laughed a deep laugh. “Oh, you are, little one. A small warm heart in a terrible weapon of war. But good to be with one such as yourself. It could be in much worse.” Pulling a few books aside, she pulled out one in particular after a few moments. “Now this, I think you will be interested in.”

Mint reached out and took the tome, reading the spine. _Studies of the Void; Effects on Organic Matter_.

“This is...old.” Mint flipped it open, scanning a few pages. “This is _really_ old. How in Sedna…”

Ivogora waved her hand as if it were nothing. “I know who to ask, if I know what I’m looking for. It wasn’t cheap, but as you’ve said, you’d make it worth my time.” She wiggled her head. “And I like to talk about what you read. Many of the tomes I sell you I could hardly understand. You digest them for me when you speak of them.”

Mint grabbed it’s datapad and started typing in a payment to be sent to her, adding more zeros than Ivogora was probably expecting. As it popped up on her pad, her laugh was on the verge of tears. 

“Darling, you couldn’t possibly be serious?” She looked at the pad again and then back up at Mint. “That is...that’s a small fortune. Are you sure? Far more than what I paid for it.”

Mint nodded. “You have been a true friend in a sea of uncertianess. You deserve it, especially with how little I visit you. My research often consumes me, and I am sorry.” 

Ivogora bowed. “You honor, little one. You are wise beyond your years, though I fear you have seen much more than I wish one such as you have seen. Thank you.” She clicked accept, the transaction complete. Reaching for a few more books and a datacore, she added them in front of her. “These might have some things you are interested in, though none on that topic. However, take them. You have given me more than enough.”

“And with that, my friend, I must go. We should have tea sometime. I always can smell it when I visit. So long, see you soon.” 

With a deep bow, Mint turned around and began walking back towards the shipdock. However, distracted by a happy meeting, Mint ran directly into a passing Frame. A tall Saryn Frame, unmoved as Mint bumped into it, stopped and slowly turned its head towards her Frame. 

Mint bowed. “I am so sorry, fellow Tenno. I was not paying attention to where I was going. I am very sorry, please, be on your way.” It waved a hand showing freedom of movement. 

The Saryn continued to have it’s head faced towards Mint, seemingly starring with no other response. In the stillness, Vhessa noticed small wisps of distortions coming off of the Frame. With most others, even Tenno, would pass them off as part of the Warframes power, but she knew what those were. _That’s void energy coming off of that Frame…_

After a tense minute, the Saryn finally turned, wordless, began walking away. 

“I can fix that!”

The Saryn stopped again, back facing Mint. It’s head did not turn.

“I can see it’s not perfectly contained. It’s surprisingly tame, but if you let me study you, I could probably develop something to contain it better.” She could feel the anxiety kicking in. Mint starred forward, Vhessa unsure if she should turn back and just leave this situation. 

The Saryn spun on a heel and in a intimidating burst of speed, stood before her once again, motionless. After another silent minute, words escaped the Frame. 

“How much.” 

It was cold, but not offending. Mint starred forward, surprised that it had actually came up to Mint. “Uhm…” She faltered at words. 

The Saryn closed a few more inches, nearly face to face. “How. Much.”

“Free! Just let me look at how, what, or that...uh. The thing! The energy! Show me how you do the thing and the stuff, and I’ll make a device that contains it and then you can go off and do your thing and…...uh…” Her words trailed off as she realized her ramble continued on with not so much as a little reaction from the Saryn Frame. 

The Saryn Frame brushed past Mint and began walking back towards the shipdock. Relaxing, Mint began walking forward to put that situation behind Vhessa. 

A voice rang out. “Well, you coming?”

Mint turned around, Saryn standing sideways, head focused on her. 

“You have a deal to upkeep. I mean to see it through.”


	2. Chapter 2

_I’ve never considered it tiny...is it tiny?_ Vhessa walked out of her chamber room into the main section of her orbiter, Mint standing down in the docking wing where she had left it. In a cold wave over her body, she suddenly realized for the first time her actual self was in proximity to another living being. _What if she killed me. It is not an image, it is not a frame, it is...me. Flesh. Soft flesh._ _But it’s Tenno…_ She shook her head for being anxious. This was a grand opportunity for a first hand, living research specimen. 

As the door opened for her down to the docking port, she stood for a moment, composed herself, and walked down the ramp. The air turned cold. She never realized how cold it was down here, never being down here unless in a Frame, and cold would hardly be felt on Mint. She imagined the heating system didn’t worry about the docking area, and cold in general stayed lower in the gravitational field generated by the orbiter. Her breath hung in the air behind her as she descended, and upon reaching the bottom, saw the Saryn frame climbing out of her landing ship.

Vhessa stopped and stared at the Saryn. The view of another Frame that was not empty, and in her own body, awed her. She knew what they were capable of. _Is this what every Corpus and Grineer I kill feel before they end?_ The shiver lasted only a moment, but it’s doom sensation infected every part of her being. _I can’t be detached here. I am not my Frame. I am me._

The Saryn walked up to her, a foot away booming above her. “Lead the way, Tenno.” It’s head did not look down while it spoke.

Nodding politely, Vhessa turned around and started to walk back up the ramp. Behind her, she could hear the nearly soundless footsteps behind her. A stranger. An unknown variable. _A liability._ She shook her head slightly as the door at the top opened once more to allow herself and her guest through, and turned left into her personal chambers.

The door slid open, revealing what nobody but herself had seen, and with it created an emotion that Vhessa could not describe or comprehend. The room itself was filled with tomes and data cores in a less than organized way, though she was sure she could remember where one was should she need specific information during her research. On one end of the room, various artifacts and devices filled several tables, while on the other side next to her overly plush bed was her personal desk. Several books lie open in a semicircle, a datapad sitting in the middle. Soft instruments started to play as it detected her presence, several sticks of incense she had purchased in Cetus began to light themselves and fill the room.

With a glance at the inexpressive Saryn, Vhessa walked over to her research table, picking up several different devices, seemling looking for a specific one. Attempting to act casual, without looking up, waved a hand at the Saryn to follow her over to the corner. With the sound of her searching through her mildly cluddered research table, there was no sound of movement before she turned around upon finding the correct device and nearly bumping into the Saryn that was now mere feet from her. Another shiver ran down her spine. “So…” Vhessa’s eyes began to run over the Saryn standing before her, mind racing as it began it’s deep dive into analysis: The building documents on the Frame itself she was very familiar with. However, the modifications she saw before her were not standard in any way, and as far as she could deduce, had nothing to do with the void energy she saw wavering out of the Frame. Small amounts escaping such as she noticed in Cetus were mostly harmless. However in times of duress or other heavy activities, the leakage would not only be harmful to the surrounding environment, but most likely the Frame as well as if she was using the void energy for herself, the energy that escaped was no longer being directed as she wanted it to be. Due to the hardiness of most Frames this was hardl-

“Is something going to happen or are you just going to stare at me.”

Vhessa felt her face flush warm, unsure of how long she had been inside her own thoughts. “Oh! Yes. I’m sorry, I was simply thinking about the situation that your Frame has. I could give you several hypotheses that I’ve come up with but I’d like to hear what you have to say about it. It could possibly throw what I think out the airlock.”

The Saryn put most of its weight onto one leg, putting a hand on its hip. “Void energy. I use it. It likes me, I like it. Things die.”

Vhessa simply stared up at the Saryn, blinking a few times unsure of what a proper response would be. _I guess I can’t expect others to be so scientifically inclined. Though this sounds like pure instinct. But is that just a front for hidden intelligence?_ “Okay. I suppose I can work with that. Stand still while I take some readings. Stand a little closer to the center of the room and I’ll begin.”

The Saryn moved over and stood unmoving. Vhessa tightened the bun on the top of her head and pushed a couple buttons on her head apparatus, the other hand grabbing a instrument off the table. The Saryn’s head suddenly faced her. “Is that supposed to be a tool?”

Vhessa looked down at the instrument she held. Various wires attached to various detection boxes that she had designed herself; Various methods of detecting hard to detect particles, especially ones that came from the void. Nutrieno’s seemed to be the easiest for her to detect, so any sudden uptick of the amount detected normally would indicate some sort of connection or bridge to the Void. However, the biggest issue she often had with the Void was that while Nutreno’s hardly ever interacted with normal matter, she knew that Tenno like herself were born from the Void, thus, she did not believe that Nutreno’s actually had anything to do with the power they attained. 

“It...works.” Vhessa was too afraid to look up, and turned on her device. A small whir of charging energy came echoing into the room. A few moments later, it beeped once. She pressed a secondary button, and it beeped twice. “It works, and now it’s ready.” Her head lifted back up to face the Saryn in front of her and she walked up to it. From a wall in the room, a rectangular hologram appeared around the Saryn as Vhessa began to take readings.

The voice continued to be emotionless from the Saryn. “What is that.”

“That’s a heatmap. I’m trying to detect any patterns of the leaking void energies that are coming off of your Frame.” Vhessa pressed a few more buttons as the holographic heatmap shifted and changed colors. “Are you going to question every little thing that I do, or are you going to wait for a result?” She was suddenly very happy that she was standing behind the Saryn, her face flushed red that she had not stopped herself from saying what she had. 

She swore she heard a snicker.

The following half hour proceeded with little other interruption. Vhessa did several passes with her device, tinkering with the settings each time, pausing to look at the heat map and try to make some deductions from the patterns that she could find in them. Suddenly, a thought came to her. 

“Is there any chance you could disconnect from your Saryn for but a brief moment. I want to test a hypothesis that I have.” Vhessa stood in front of the Saryn and looked up at her. “I promise it won’t be for anything...funky.”

After a few silent moments, the Saryn nodded. Vhessa prepped her took to do a quick circle around the Frame. She saw the Saryn slump mildly, standing strong. _Bingo._ She did a quick walk around the Frame, the heatmap updating. 

The Saryn came back to a ready position. “Anything else you require? I do have other things to do, you know. I did not expect your...study period to take so much of my time.” 

Vhessa bowed in front of the Frame. “I’m terribly sorry. While I consider myself quite knowledgeable in Frame modifications and knowledge of the Void, I have never seen the phenomena that is happening with your Frame. I have recorded the differences in your Frame, done a deep three dimensional scan, and have the original Saryn blueprints. Past that, I will need to begin actually _producing_ a prototype of something I think will help. As far as my observation, for now, that is finished.”

The Saryn turned it’s head to face her. “Are we done here, then?”

Vhessa looked around her chambers. “Yeah, unless you want some hot chocolate.”

Silence.

“Some hot what?”


	3. Chapter 3

“Hot Chocolate.”

Vhessa was once again met with silence. The Saryn continued to stand there.

“You know, chocolate, but in a powdery form mixed in with milk from an animal and heated so the particles of the powder mix in between the water molecules better to make a homogeneous mixture to consume that tastes like sweet milky chocolate.”

More silence.

“Listen, this is going to take a lot of time. I don’t know when I’ll need to run further tests with different parameters after I analyze what I already have. Not to mention the actual manufacturing process and consistent testing to make sure it’s doing what it does.” Vhessa looked on at the Saryn. 

The Saryn walked over to her couch and sat down and leaned forward and started looking at the different scores of music she on her player, then laid back and crossed one leg over the other. “I’ll be here.”

As she walked over to her research table, sitting down in the chair beside it, she looked over at the Saryn. “Don’t you want to take a break? Transferring for so long can be a strain. You don’t have to leave your Frame here. You know how to contact me now.”

The Saryn shook its head. “No, time isn’t something I am worried about. What you offer is something the Void will not give me. But you will.” It’s head focused on her. “So here, I sit.” It leaned farther back, head now facing the ceiling. 

With a sigh, Vhessa spun her chair back towards her desk. A few button presses later, the data flickered on in front of her as she began looking for patterns, writing simple programs to look more extensively at the patterns she thought she noticed, and typing notes of her thoughts so she could attempt to organize them later.

\---

Hours passed as Vhessa continued to try and make sense of the Void anomalies coming out of the Saryn Frame. While all Tenno possessed a connection to the Void in order to keep their transference connected to their Frame, the readings on this Saryn far exceeded any normal transference connection. While the transference Void energy requirements varied based on a variety of factors; Tenno skill, Frame, current activity, even not including the readings of the leaking Void energy didn’t touch how exceedingly high the base Void reading was. 

Not only that, but the Saryn Frame itself seemed to be morphed in such ways that were more than purely cosmetic. As far as she could tell, the Tenno did not express knowledge of being able to modify Frame schematics. It was quite possible they found someone who did bu--

Vhessa spun her head around over her shoulder. _What was that._ She turned her head back towards the Saryn, still sitting in nearly the same position as when it first sat down. She shook her head. _I’m being silly again. Not used to something else being in this room…_ She returned to her notes and data. 

It was possible the operator of the Saryn Frame found someone to modify their Frame for various combat variations, but she hardly knew of anyone who could do such things. So much knowledge had been lost, so much just pushing on through what the Tenno were given at their revival. While progress was being made scouring old datacores and various Orokin artifacts along with further research on the Infestation, so little was truly known-- Without turning her head, she could feel that presence again. Acting as casual as she could be, she pressed a few buttons on her datapad that was directly in front of her laying on the desk. A camera popped up showing her herself, sitting there and…

Nothing. Nothing was there. _Why am I so...wait._ With two more button presses, she flipped on her Void sensors. Lit up in the form of a Tenno, someone was standing over her shoulder, eavesdropping on her research. Only a moment later after the figure was revealed on her datapad, she watched the form dissipate into millions of Void energy particles. Vhessa looked over at the Saryn, who was still in the same position, no reaction from the occurrence. _Just him in the wall, I bet._

After a few more hours with no distractions, Vhessa sighed heavily, and triumphantly hit a button on her datapad. She spun around as put her hands on her thighs. “Hey, you awake over there?”

The Saryn, arms behind its head, turned its head down from the ceiling to her. “You think I’d let my guard down?” 

Vhessa stared blankly. “Uh. I guess not.” She stood up, brushing some of the wrinkles out of her clothes from how long she had been sitting, and began for the door. “Come with me, the foundry is building something I’d like to show you.” The Saryn stood up and followed her out of the room.

The foundry was a whir of motion as it printed out Vhessa’s schematic. It was rough, but spending too much time on a perfect design before testing the theory could end up costing her weeks. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she saw it come closer to completion, the Saryn simply standing behind her and watching.

A fine hyperthreaded weave full of dense lead, mixed further with advanced alloyed carbon synthetics, using energy from the Frame itself, allowed to capture the Void energy and prep it for redirection. _In theory._ The foundry finished. She grabbed the item, and it immediately began printing the secondary part to her designed apparatus. While much smaller, it took nearly twice the amount of time for the foundry to produce. Once finished, Vhessa grabbed what looked to be a quad set of long dense wires with various attachments at both ends. 

Holding one set in each hand, Vhessa spun around on a heel with a near psychotic look of anticipation on her face. “Please follow me back to my chambers. Veri, please extend the medical table in my chambers.”

A voice echoed through the ship, kind and soft with a soft medium/high tone voice. “Right away, Operator.” Vhessa continued down the hallway to her chambers, a quick glance back to make sure that the Saryn followed along. 

As Vhessa walked into the chambers she made her way straight to the medical table that had folded out of the wall. While never used on another, she often used it to treat any Frame injuries there, and this was close enough to work the same purpose. She set down the newly printed parts and waved a hand to the table while looking at the Saryn. “Please lie down, first on your back. Once the initial part is properly attached, I will need you to flip over so I can install the recycler tubes.”

The Saryn turned it’s head to the table then back to Vhessa. “How safe is this?”

Vhessa laughed, her back now turned to the Saryn, pressing various things on her control console as several robotic arms swung out of the ceiling. “Honestly, I have no idea. But with the regeneration rate and ease of printing off replacement bits, actually probably pretty safe.”

After a few more moments, the Saryn sat down on the edge of the medical table and swung around to lie down. Vhessa walked over and began buckling several restraints. “While you could easily break these, this simply helps to prevent any unintentional movement while the procedure is happening. More for me than for you.” The Saryn’s head and limbs were quickly snapped into a solid position. Vhessa nodded with her own satisfaction and stood at her control console, reaching her arms into the holographic simulation control of the procedure to follow. “Do you want an explanation as I go?”

“No. Just do what you need to do. Your interest in this project allows me to trust that you have just to much to gain as I do.” 

Vhessa nodded at the Saryn. “Okay then. Let’s begin.” A robotic arm swung down near the abdomen of the flat Saryn. “You’re going to feel a light drilling.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sweat ran down the side of Vhessa’s face. She watched as she surgically sew the second attachment port attachment for the recycle hose into the Saryn’s back. After she was certain it was solidly in place, she pulled the two hoses lying on either side of the Saryn and began lacing and putting together the various tubes and wires that would connect it all together.

After another ten minutes, she clapped her hands together. “All done! Veri!”

“Yes, Operator?”

“Hot Chocolate please. Extra marshmallows.”

“Right away, Operator.”

Vhessa walked over and began unbuckling the restraints that she had reattached after the Saryn had to flip over mid operation. “So, how do you feel?”

The Saryn lifted up it’s arms and moved its hands and fingers around. “It feels no different as far as I can tell.”

Vhessa scratched her noggin. “Hm. Let me grab my scanning equipment. Stand up for me.” She quickly walked over and grabbed the same equipment she had used earlier and did several passes around the Saryn. She let out a excited yelp. “It works! Or at least, I can’t detect any leaking Void traces.” She walked over once again and grabbed a small rectangular box. “Turn around for me?”

“What?” The Saryn stared at her.

“I need to put this on your back. Turn around.”

“What does it do?”

Vhessa sighed. “You ask too many questions. We have one more test and this is going to take the readings for me.”

The Saryn turned around. Vhessa quickly hooked up the pack to a spot between the two recycler insertion ports. The Saryn spun to face her once again. “How long will this one take?”

Vhessa smiled while looking at the Saryn.

“What?”

Vhessa giggled. “See you in a moment, Saryn.” Her form dissipated in a erratic wave of Void energy. Her vision was Mint’s vision. She left the top deck and made her way down to her chambers. As the doors swung open, she saw a Saryn looking at the door. 

“Is that part of the test?” The Saryn shifted uncomfortably at the new modifications to the Frame. 

A datapad hologram appeared in front of Mint, and with a few button presses, then motion controlled the pad to swing in front of the Saryn. “That is. Time to see how that works in combat.”

The Saryn looked at the datapad for a few moments, then looked back up at Mint. “You think that’s necessary?”

Mint shrugged. “You don’t emit very much energy while mostly inactive. While it’s working now, I don’t know if it’ll maintain it’s composure in full combat. While with more time, I would be able to install such a modification inside the Frame, this is a short and messy test before we spend the time to do that. Target like that should be easy, anyways.” Mint motioned for the pad to disappear, and stepped aside with a hand waving by it. “Shall we?”

The Saryn walked by, headed to the shipdock. “If we must. But we do it my way.”

\---

The ship’s musk filled the Saryn’s nostrils. Orix’s mind began to manifest the mission ahead of her as her senses swept through the ships interior before her. They had entered through a ejection chute that was severely lacking in security. The one Grineer posted there didn’t even have a Lifend communicator in case of death. Ivy, the Saryn, tensed in pleasure as she could feel the blood. Grabbing the soldier from behind, one hand had wrapped around his face, the other gliding a small blade, hip to neck with the tip scraping the edges of her frame,, bathed her in her first conquest.

Mint, as she had heard the Tenno girl call it, followed closely behind. Ivy let the limp Grineer body drop to the ground, quietly. She motioned to Mint to stay close and quiet. Their target was a mid-ranked Grienner commander, but that was not the reason he was being targeted. According to the dossier, he was developing some kind of new weapon combined with old Orokin technology. Worse yet, he had a Corpus defector helping him reverse engineer and add these concept to their new weapon. 

Ivy made her way from corner to corner, listening for any movement or other signs of activity. Several other guards, only one or two to the patrol, quickly were felled by Ivy and Mint. Orix had a general idea on the location of their target, but she’d rather have pinpoint accuracy. Hallway to hallway, they made their way to a central database. She knew the commander would have a locator in the ship’s system. Ivy turned to Mint and motioned for her to cover her back. She began hacking a nearby console to find the location of the central database.

In seconds she hacked through the Grineer console, quickly located the map files, and noticed a network connection to the rest of the ship’s network. With a glance over her shoulder to see that Mint had no troubles, Orix attempted to backdoor into the Central Database from this side console. As she accessed the door, before she had an attempt to hack in any defense, alarms on the entire ship began blaring. She knew the location of this terminal was being broadcast to every soldier on the ship. 

Ivy turned to Mint. “Cover my ass, we don’t have time to go find the Central Database.” Her attention went straight into brute forcing into the Central Database and finding the location of their target. She shut out the combat behind her, but she could hear it. Mint’s protective bubble went up, the sounds of gunfire slamming into it. Mint’s Prisma Grakata firing hundreds of rounds out, opening up in perfect timing holds in the protective wall to allow passage of her own counter-offensive.

The chaotic organization structure of a Grineer Database almost acted as another line of defense. Orix cross referenced connection points between different sets of data and controls for various systems in the ship that it took her longer than she had wanted to pinpoint the location of the target. 

_Sergeant Vem Dreg._ The location was finally revealed to her. She knew with an alarm there was not as much time as she’d hope, but luckily it was not to far off for a Frame to get to but in a matter of seconds. Ivy pulled out her Guandao and dashed past Mint, slapping the Frame on the shoulder. “Follow me, now.” 

Ivy’s first jump down the corridor towards her target already was filled with a number of Grineer guards. _Fodder._ Orix could barely feel that the blade had come in contact with anything as she heard more impacts than guards behind her. The only other sounds was of Mint keeping up behind Ivy.

The journey was short and the resistance on the way there minimal as far as effort exerterted. Anything that Ivy ignored she heard a few short gats of a Grakata mowing the Grineer down. Ivy came to a closed door, landing in front of it looking for any control panel nearby, the target just past this wall. The hallway had no offshoots leading to this door, and it was a deadend past. They would have seen their target if they had tried to escape. 

“Mint, cover m-”

Transparent walls snapped closed in front of Ivy, trapping her off from Mint in between the door the led to their target. _This is new. For Grineer._ She saw Mint throw up a several times reinforced barrier and begin trying to break down the obstacle between them. As Mint continued various methods on trying to break down the barrier, a voice boomed over them.

At first, only laughter filled the air. “Tenno think nothing ever stop them. Every mission easy.” Panels on the walls and ceiling opened up, hundreds of small devices coming out. “Less talk, more Tenno killing.” Ivy immediately went to punch at some of the devices. As her fist swung, thousands of bright white lines streaked across the now enclosed chamber. The devices were able to slide amongst themselves. _Pain. This is...What kind...of pain is this._

\---

Mint stood helpless outside the chamber as the Saryn was assaulted by the devices in the room. Minutes passed by, watching the Saryn as best as it could slam it’s fists into the walls. A few attempts to hold her Guandao were made, but her movements seemed to only come in small openings of control.

Vhessa kept her eyes on the devices carefully. _This was far more effort than just killing a Frame_ , she thought. _There has to be more to it._ Several of the small devices moved aside as a singular, larger point came out, which immediately began to emit a high, power charging wine. It struck down into the Saryn, the other devices keeping the streaking white lights attached, and then they began to…

_Pull?_ Mint began furiously slamming as hard as it could against the barrier before it stopped and Vhessa starred on blank faced at what she saw; A Tenno form being pulled out of the Saryn. The machines wined even louder, before the Tenno form was finally pulled from the Saryn, slamming against a wall. The Saryn fell down into a flat limp position against the wall.

The Tenno she saw stood back up, blood flowing from her head. 

_Blood. Blood?_

The Tenno before her wasn’t a transference image of the Tenno.

The life and blood of the Tenno stood before her.


	5. Chapter 5

Orix stood there, taking in what was in front of her. Ivy was against the wall, and she heard a doorway behind the door she had been trying to hack open and close. Probably a type of airlock, so company was probably only a matter of moments away. As instinct, power began charging within her. The doors opened and four Grineer soldiers came out, two with firearms and the other two with fire branding chainsaws. 

She turned her neck to the visitors who pulled up their melee weapons, firearms going off as she deflected them. “I see four pre-mature corpses.” The Grineer with firearms did not expect them to be the first targets as Orix side stepped off the wall and ran her fist through his neck, using the void energy to act as a heating element to melt through Grineer armor and flesh alike. The screams of the first one were brief as her hand found its spine and promptly ripped it out, her other hand grabbing onto the second firearm wielding Grineer, her fingers tightening into the sides of its face until her hand exploded in a flash of energy. The Grineer flew back, decorating the wall with a spray of blood, it’s body slumped on the ground. She dropped the first one’s spine, and turned to face the other two.

In a sense of urgency at impending death, one ran at her with no hesitation as she landed behind them. Orix noticed that they’re movements with their weapons were not well trained for targets small as her. She ducked, swept a foot under it, and with her hands together, pounded down, energy blowing him in half save a few tendons keeping it together. The Grineer groaned and screamed out for help for a few seconds before succumbing. Orix looked up at the last one, blood now soaked through her hair, dripping down off the edges of her chin and arms as her gaze centered in. The Grineer stood his ground, seeing every other method failing quickly.

She dashed towards the Grineer with a blast of void energy and-

Orix felt herself held aloft in the air. A quick glance revealed several of the devices were using strong tractor beams to hold her in place. They held her with each limb being pulled diagonally away. The Grineer laughed under its breath as it spun the weapon and brought it up for a swing.

\---

Vhessa stood on in horror. Things had happened in such quick order that she hardly had time to think of what they could mean. How did that machine rip out a Tenno? Why does that Tenno have strange coloured blood? How is that Tenno moving so quickly?

Now, in front of Mint, she watched as the Tenno was hung aloft. The Grinner’s weapon spun down, slamming into her chest, spraying the weapon and the soldier with blood, some hitting the dividing wall she watched through. 

The Tenno looked hardly phased. It leaned its head back, and void energy seemed to being to glow out of her head. In an explosion, smoke filled the view before it cleared. The last Grinner was dead, but the Tenno had been blown back into her Saryn. The wound continued to pour out blood. The Tenno had impacted hard enough to sink slightly into her own Frame from the velocity of the explosion. _Can she still be alive? The energy never got redirected...did it create a void singularity instead? Did I oversight the correct injection method?_

A solid jet of particles came out of the Saryn. Mint pressed its face up against the barrier to try and ascertain where it was coming from.

_Oh...no no no._ “Tenno! Get up and run! Please!”

The blast was deafening. Mint felt itself thrown from the wall as the explosion ripped through it. Sounds of several other Grineer falling were heard around as Mint’s body slammed into a wall, shrapnel embedding into its body. Mint raised its head, and began limping towards where the Saryn and Tenno had been. Before Mint could make it to where the smoke was still flowing out, something wrapped around it’s ankle and pulled it back. Mint threw up another blast of solid ice wall but a heavy gunner was putting holes in it left and right, a few making it through. Vhessa knew that Mint could not sustain many more injuries before failing completely. 

\---

_I still live._

Orix stood up, unable to see with the amount of smoke in her area. Her hand ran across her chest to feel where she had been struck. The wound was there, but she could see energy emanating out of her. As the smoke begun to clear, she noticed something strange. Everything else was moving slowly. 

She felt alive. So...one. _The void._

The dash forward felt effortless as she used both hands to rip the heavy gunner in two. As she went to punch into the second one, jets of void energy created a claw formation off her hand. As the dug into the Grineer, they shot off into its body and glows began to grow from it’s insides before exploding into viscera. Below her, a shaking Mint lay prone, severe injuries obvious from a passing glance.

Vem Dreg’s voice boomed over the ship. “What. Are. YOU!?” The last word was drawn out as it turned into anguish and hatred. In front of Ivy, Mint’s shield shattered, arms falling to the side. 

Orix no longer thought. _Instinct._

In a blur, she transferred back into Ivy, picked up Mint with little effort and began bounding back the way they had come to make a hasty escape. Immediately she was blocked off by Grineer troops that spread across the hallway, firing wildly towards Ivy before the entire hallway turned into a fog of spores, floating down the hallway. The Grineer coughed before they began screaming, many dropping to their knees as parts of their flesh began falling to the floor, bubbles breaking down those pieces before releasing more spores. Ivy carefully kept a void field around Mint, and arching shield to push spores out of the way while they ran.

As Ivy rounded a corner, feet gouging out inches into the steel framework floor of the Grineer vessel from the velocity, she bounded even faster, each foot fall leaving its mark. There was a trail to follow, but nothing could ever catch up. 

Another group of Grineer gathered where they had made their stealthy entrance, several heavy gunners joining in, pelting everything in Ivy’s direction. Several shots cut through Ivy’s Frame, weaving so if they had to hit anything, they hit her instead of Mint. Orix enjoyed every feeling of pain that swept through her Frame, near ecstasy, before Ivy molted, a blast of energy as her movement multiplied, spore out, and the only thing the Grineer soldiers could see through the mist was the glowing skin of Ivy’s molted skin. 

Out of the mist came Ivy. The Grineer, however, saw something else. In front of Ivy, was something. What they saw would never be retold, as Ivy clung around Mint for protection, Orix slammed on the wall behind the soldiers attempting to block them. Her hands began to glow quickly and she smiled. “So long. Be back soon.”

The ships exterior wall exploded, shrapnel killing all off the Grineer before any lack of oxygen could. Ivy flew by Orix with the momentum she already had, the landing ship catching her in her trajectory out. Orix transferred back, getting Mint safely into the boarding ship, suddenly realizing that the other Tenno had been trying to contact her this entire time, yelling through their established comms. 

“Get him back here! Now! He’s fading. I lost my connection. I’m prepping the operation.”

“Operation?”

“How the fuck else am I going to save him?”

The landing ship blasted off towards her Orbiter. “The Void heals.”

There was no immediate response. “I...I can’t. Get him here, now.”

_She can’t...harness the Void to repair injuries?_

“ETA two minutes.”


	6. Chapter 6

Vhessa watched as the other Tenno’s drop ship docked to her orbiter. She shook, waiting by the doors that would be soon to open to her greatest nightmare. The vial injector in her hand, gripped loosely as she became lost in thought. _I’ve done minor procedures, but...this wasn’t supposed to happen. How did this happen? How did…_

The sounds of the latches closing pulled her out of her head. Deep metal clangs as the docking door made an airtight seal. Steam spat out as it released the air pressure to match her orbiter, the light above the door turned green and the door slid open.

Standing before her was the Saryn Warframe, covered nearly head to toe in blood, next to her, Mint continued to spasm, throwing more blood across the nearby walls. Vhessa grip on the vial tightened as she screamed, slammed it into the chest of mint and hit the button on the side, the concoction inside sliding into Mint’s body. “Carry, follow me, now.”

The Saryn picked up Mint and followed her, merely at a fast walk as Vhessa’s full sprint speed was nothing compared to a frame. The Saryn passed her halfway to her quarters, Vhessa’s eyes following. She shouted to Veri. “Deploy the medical bed, start pumping synthetic blood type ES200 into the feeder tube.” As she ran into her quarters behind the Saryn, she hastily grabbed her medical cart, sliding it over to where Mint was now laying. Blood continued to convulse out, sliding down the table and spreading across the floor. As Vhessa approached, the Saryn stepped back and watched silently. 

Her fingers whirred in a blur on the keyboard, throwing up multiple holographic displays showing various vital signs and conditions of Mint. Vhessa pulled up a system and put her arms in, with a quad set of robotic arms descending from the ceiling. The first one slammed right into the heart of Mint, and through the arm, a few windows showed the slow crawl of the Emergency Situation 200 Level Stimulation artificial blood. 

An immediate sweep showed a scan of 47 lodged bullets in various parts of Mint’s flesh. It also revealed the other 152 clean shots through. _Stitching is out of the question. Too much time. Cartirization. But I don’t think Mint can handle it. I’m not there, I…_

Vhessa spun around. “You. Put your arm in this. If you pull your finger like it’s in a trigger, a small focused flame will come out of the robotic arm that has the red lines on it. I need you to start cartarizing all of the holes you see on this chart.” She quickly pointed at the hologram, and bolted out the door.

She didn’t stop to think what if the Saryn decided she had no interest in this. There was no other way. Producing another one wasn’t the same. The memories, the bond. _Him._

She climbed into her transference pod and closed her eyes. A whisper coming out of her as she felt herself drift off into that familiar dream.

“Not without you. I can’t.”

\---

Ivy watched as the Tenno girl rushed out of the room. _I could leave. This isn’t my business. Why am I still here?_

_**Because I am here now.**_

Orix felt herself tense up through Ivy. Something was different. She could figure it out herself, but this Tenno had a much better chance of figuring it out. Ivy put her hand in the holographic apparatus and saw that the robotic arm moved with her. _Whatever you are, get the fuck out._

_**There is no out. Or in. We.**_

**__**_Then what do you want?_

There was no response. 

As Ivy began to look around, wondering what the Tenno had been up to, she heard screaming as the Frost’s frame let out a jagged scream of pure horror, void energy shooting out of every wound in his body. In the screaming, she could make out a singular word.

_“BURN! Arrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaggghh.”_ The Frost’s body began to convuls as it dawned on Orix what had just happened. The Tenno had transferred back into a near death Warframe, and now felt every wound it did, channeling herself to keep the frame as far as possible from death. 

Ivy flicked on the jet of focused flame and quickly began sealing the wounds, each singe causing further screams and convulsions. The wall adjacent to the Frost was covered in specks of blood, color mixed in with the newly synthetic blood introduced into it’s system to keep the tissue and rest of the body organs from fully dying off. 

After a few dozen of the wounds had been cauterized, the smell hit Orix. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room as Ivy continued the long grind, wound after wound. But the screaming never stopped. Random spouts of void energy blew out of various injuries the Frost still had, but even with the convulsing, the frame stayed on the table unrestrained. _That Tenno…_ While not scientifically inclined, the vital sign readings on the various displays in front of Ivy were simple to interpret. As she continued, less replacement blood leaking out, vitals slowly were returning closer to normal, or at least, stable. She was well over half of the wounds when the Frame stopped moving, the screaming subsided, and Ivy pressed on. After only two more cartarizations, the frame convulsed, stopped, and another scream came out. 

Ivy whipped her head around. The scream had come from the transference room. She began walking towards the door out of the personal chambers. As soon as she was far enough away from the Frost, she leapt at dangerous speeds, bending in various walls and floors as she sped towards the Tenno. “Cephalon, alert me if the Frost frame goes critical.” 

“Yes, guest,” The Cephalon replied. 

Ivy slammed into the closed doors of the transference chamber, the doors remaining closed. Her fingers pierced through the center piece for leverage and began pulling the doors apart just before a electrical blast of transference void energy blew the doors outwords, throwing Ivy to the ground before rolling backwards back into a ready stance. As she raced back up to the now blown open entrance, she took in the scene before her.

The Tenno was floating over the transference pod, and...over to the right, the left, several on the floor, all flickering in and out of existence before popping back in somewhere else, all experiencing different emotions, brief scenes playing out before disappearing. And in the center, where the pod was, several pieces had cracked. Every time the glow grew brighter, more visions of the Tenno appeared, before more horrified screams came from the transference pod. 

A booming sound, a scream of a Warframe, erupted from Ivy, booming forward and pulling away the pod. The in the pod was the Tenno, her back arched floating with hundreds of tenderals attaching to her through void connections. Blood flowed out of her orifices, streaming across her body. _It’s killing her. She gave too much._

Ivy reached out to put her arms around the Tenno. As soon as the hands touched the transference streams, control left out of Ivy’s arms, shuttering and being thrown back. _It’s giving so much feedback I can’t control any part of Ivy in that mess. Shit. Shit shit fuck. FUCK._

Orix transferred herself, not an image, but herself, out of Ivy, her frame throwing her into the vortex that the other Tenno was trapped in. Orix felt herself fly through the transference fields as a pain so dense that it felt like numbness had overwhelmed her body, but she had control. She wrapped her arms around the Tenno as she flew in, cannonballing out with the Tenno in her arms, wisps of connections from the pod flowing around them. 

The energy from the pod immediately dissipated without the catalyst of the Tenno inside, both of them rolling to a stop on the ground. As Orix pulled up and looked at the Tenno in her arms, she realized there was no movement, no breathing. She wrapped her arms tightly around the limp Tenno, straddling her on the ground as her own self controlled void tenderals connected and wrapped around. _You owe me, you little shit._

Orix felt a breath exhale on her cheek. The Tenno, face still shrunken up from the pain, looked more at ease, more like she was just in a nightmare, yet to wake up. She willed Ivy to stand over her as she felt herself drift into sleep, herself drifting into the void to recover. As the nothingness enveloped her, she felt something that was not her own, but the Tenno next to her.

Peace.

As she herself felt at peace floating into the void, finally able to relax with the situation resolved, she felt something crawling around her. Inside her. 

_**I, we, see all.** _


	7. Part Two

Vhessa stretched and yawned.

_Why is this so uncomfortable…_

She tried adjusting herself before her hand brushed over a head, with hair. Her eyes snapped open, a flood of memories washing over her. She felt her stomach churn and she quickly sat up and leaned away, vomiting on the ground what little was there was to. Wiping her face, she turned back to the Tenno asleep next to her on the ground. 

In the confrontation on the Grineer ship, she had barely gotten a look at the Tenno pulled from the Saryn frame. Before her lay a peaceful sleeping Tenno. She was long, her hair mid length and jet black, but her attire was ripped to shreds. _How is she...alive? How could a Tenno take injuries like that? What is she._

As she stood up, the memory of Mint was the next to blindside her. She rushed off, leaving the Tenno to her slumber. As she ran into her personal chambers, she saw Mint still laying on the medical table, though it appeared that his body had closed of the remaining uncauterized wounds. His chest slowly rose and fell, the holographic monitors still deployed in front. He was past any danger of the frame suffering full catastrophic failure. 

Vhessa walked up and leaned herself onto his chest, wrapping on arm around Mint. “Thank you…”, she whispered. “Thank you for fighting with me. I owe you.” She felt herself nearly drifting off at the sudden drop of tension with the relief of seeing Mint successfully recovering. She stood back up and checked the various monitors and ran a few test scans to make sure there were no other unforeseen dangers lurking in the injuries Mint had attained. 

“Veri, while I walk back to our guest, can you brew some hot chocolate for two, and then tell me what happened in the transference chamber.” Vhessa began her way out of her chambers back to where she had awoken.

“Certainly, Operator. Accessing memories.” There was a brief silence as the cephalon prepared. “You walked into the transference chamber and entered the transference pod. Upon that time, you connected to the severely unstable Frost frame in your personal chambers. While before the frame had been rendered unconscious, your transference forced it awake. In essence you did help keep the frame functioning while our guest proceeded with the carterizations of the wounds, the length at which you kept up the connection began a severe feedback loop as you refused to disconnect from a dying warframe. Vital signs indicate that your body was under extreme stress and the void transference connection had begun using your body itself to follow the Tenno’s commands.” As Veri stopped speaking, Vhessa’s thoughts continued, processing what she had done and the effects, or the fact that what she did was even possible or a conscious decision. 

“Thank you Veri. Please have the hot chocolate delivered to the Transference chamber.” Vhessa walked into the chamber, now realizing that the doors had been blasted off. _From the inside. From me?_ She continued and stood next to the sleeping Tenno, and smiled. Whatever she had done, it had most likely saved her. A door slid up on the side of the chamber with two sealed containers of hot chocolate. Grabbing one for herself, she plopped the second one directly in front of the Tenno’s nose, and popped the top so the sweet smells would permeate into her senses. With a deep sigh, Vhessa sat at the nearby table, taking a deep drink of the hot chocolate, and began sobbing tears of no general emotional direction.

\---

_**Can you see her, Tenno?**_

Orix opened her eyes, still drifting through the dream of the void. The void smelled different. Sweet.

_See who, whatever you are._

_**Can you see who she is, Tenno.**_

Orix eyes opened to the bright white lighting of the Transference chamber. In front of her sat a container, slight wisps of steam flowing this way and that. The smell was unfamiliar to her, but it was pleasant. She thought back to what had happened, and chuckled to herself. _Still alive, you shit._

Sitting up, crossing her legs while sitting on the ground, she noticed the other Tenno, head resting on the table, one hand on an identical container to the one sitting in front of her. Orix picked up and sniffed the contents of the container, shaking her hand slightly to watch it’s consistency within the container, dipping her finger to see if it had any effect on her.

“It’s not going to bite you.”

Orix sat up half startled, now seeing the other Tenno had rolled her head towards her, now facing towards her. Her eyes shined with the fresh tears still making their way down her face. “I know that. It’s just new. I don’t put things inside me without getting a good study of them first. What is it?”

The Tenno closed her eyes and smiled, another tear rolling down her face. “That’s hot chocolate.”

“What is its purpose? Does it have our vital nutrients and caloric intake?” Orix sipped a small amount and began swishing it around in her mouth.

“No, silly. It just tastes nice.”

Orix starred at the liquid. “Interesting.” She stood up and sat next to the other Tenno on the long seat against the wall. “So, now that we’re not dying, screaming, underfire or otherwise, I think we have a lot to talk about.”

The other Tenno nodded. “Yes, but first let’s get you cleaned up. Veri, a set of basic clothes from our supply.” 

The sliding door in the wall opened up with a basic light shirt, with a set of darker pants and a jacket. Orix looked down at herself, never paying attention to her attire. She nodded her appreciation and stood up, grabbed the clothing, and stripped. The other Tenno turned away, awkwardly sipping her tea. 

The garments were soft and cozy, most certainly not produced for combat of any kind. They were baggy, surprisingly, but a button on the side shrunk them to a comfortable size. She picked back up her beverage, kicking her discarded ruined clothing into a pile next to her, and sat back down next to the other Tenno. “Well, shall you begin?”

The Tenno turned to face Orix. “What about you? The amount of energy you absorbed should have killed you.”

Orix cocked her head. “What do you mean? We’re Tenno.”

While she attempted to focus on what the Tenno was saying, she could not make heads or tales of it as it began to drag on and on. She looked down at her hot chocolate, still fascinated by it. Unsure of how much time had passed, Orix looked back up, trying to comprehend the babble that was being thrown at her to explain why she shouldn’t be alive and the intricacies of void energy and manipulation. Finally, she held up her hand to pause the Tenno, then outstretched her hand. 

“I’m Orix. That Warframe standing over there?” She leaned her head towards the Warframe. “That’s Ivy.”

The Tenno’s eyes went wide, red embarrassment washing over her face. She went in for a bow before smacking her head on the table, catching her hot chocolate before it toppled over, and instead took the hand in her own for a shake. 

“I’m Vhessa. The Warframe you helped me save last night is Mint. I am forever in your debt.” She did a much smaller bow, still grasping Orix’s hand. “Sorry I get carried away with my topics. I’ll let you ask more specific questions, how about that?” Vhessa lifted her head back up and smiled.

Orix gave a one sided devious grin. “That sounds like a good place to start. How about this for a question.” Orix released her grip on Vhessa’s hands. “How about questions about myself you have?”

Vhessa’s eyes opened wide, a high pitch squeal in which Orix could have never imagined escaping such a small Tenno. “I have a list already in my head.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long delay! Work was very busy during the Holiday season but we are on the other side now! Thanks, and enjoy.

For several Earth cycles, Orix kept her orbiter near Vhessa’s. Hours upon hours of research was done on Orix, Vhessa pushing Orix’s boredom of being a research object, though the promise of channeling her strength more effectively helped sedate the feeling. Though the immediate danger was over and a new acquainted Tenno, Orix felt the tendrils of unknowing at what had been speaking to her across the boundaries of the Void. This information she did not disclose to Vhessa, as her relationship with the Void was very different than hers.

Another topic that Vhessa had brought up several times during her studies was about the machine that had been used on Ivy during their mission aboard the Grineer vessel. She hypothesised several ways for the machine to harness various energies to pull a Tenno through the transference to the Warframe, though all of them required technology that was only in theories, had no information had foretold any such attempts to create the technology.

Mint had recovered well, most of the wounds now hardly visible. While some information had come in on missions needing to be done, Vhessa has mostly waved them off, her burning desire to study Orix unsatiated. Orix simply assumed she felt guilty about the failure of her prototype device, though in the end, it may have ended up saving them. 

Vhessa’s studies yielded that Orix’s Tenno body had an unusual consistent level of Void energy being pulled in. Though Vhessa did not have any pre-incident data on her levels of Void energy, the baseline amounts she knew from data she had gathered from other Tenno’s in various other studies were nowhere near close to what was being recorded now. Orix had explained to her the mutations she had had over time, so Vhessa concluded that she had elevated levels beforehand, however was unable to decisively conclude if the levels now were truly elevated or simply what Orix always had.

Upon saying their farewells, Orix returned to her orbiter. She felt the comfort of being alone evelop her. The slow rumbling of her craft on the way back to her orbiter felt like a lullaby. As the craft made a jerking motion as it was locked in, she came back to focus and removed herself into her orbiter, making her way to her personal chambers. Her cephalon made no comments, as it knew that unless it was important, not to talk unless spoken to or given permission to freely speak until told otherwise. The only sound she heard was her footfalls through the silent interior of her ship.

Not a standard Tenno orbiter, Orix has found this gem during one of her personal solo missions. A large yacht for the Orokin. She felt there was no better way to treat the ship than to have a Tenno in control. While many thought destroying such things would help them in their grieving process to move on, holding onto such a thing to her was a symbol of power. Weakness was trying to run. Control was strength in your fears and past.

Helminth ran throughout her ship, unlike any of the other Tenno operated ones she had seen. Fed, nurtured, and as much as you can befriend such a thing, they had a mutually beneficial relationship. Even with the Void helping to repair and fix her Warframes, having an expert on board never hurt, and there had never been any action from the Helminth that it would take a hostile action, simply there to do its purpose, even if some purposes were no longer needed when it was first conceived. 

Orix ran her hand across one of the Helminth covered walls, a small groan of a reply to show that it recognized her arrival. The ship was big, but the quiet walks helped her focus. Her personal chambers could be closer, but if it was a real emergency, the distance was nothing. Most of the time, the walk was exactly what she wanted. It was there, she could feel it, always wrapping around her, swimming around her, brushing ever so lightly to remind her it was always there even if she was not focused on it. The Void was her’s, and her the Void’s. 

_**She sees you as imperfect, Tenno.**_

She sighed heavily and grunted. Orix had hopped her newfound follower had found something better to do. “She wanted to make me stronger. There is no perfect.”

The whirls she was ever so familiar with around her body suddenly felt like the grip tightened. 

_**Her humanity is too strong. She will betray you.**_

Orix snorted. “That’s what you’re worried about?” She didn’t know why she was giving this _thing_ any time out of her day, but at the same time she knew it wasn’t going away. As far as she could tell, it had no control over her, but she knew because it seemed to connect through the Void, it could cause trouble. 

She stood in the doorway to her chambers after they slid open. “And what makes you think I’m not more worried about a shadowed entity betraying me?” 

There was no response. After a moment, the grip she felt from the accompanying void faded. Orix shook her head and headed into her chambers. It was nearly barren. She had other rooms for more specific purposes, but for herself, simplicity. She sat at the window, and closed her eyes to convene with the Void. 

It’s comforting embrace wrapped itself ever more around her. It wrapped…

Tighter. Her eyes shot open, clawing at her neck as she was lifted into the air, before being shot across the room, the door not having enough time to open as the force ripped on half of the door from it’s frame, bouncing behind her as she slid across the floor. She stood ready for whatever assailant had come for her, but sensed nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing.

_**Don’t betray me, and I won’t betray you. You are but an insect, little Tenno.**_

A cold, soft sensation ran across her cheek, and for the first time for as long as Orix could remember, she felt a shiver run down her spine. 


	9. Chapter 9

The silent hum of the Orbiter suddenly seemed too quiet. Vhessa sighed, suddenly realizing she had enjoyed the company of Orix more than she had noticed during the events of the last week. She could not say she had met as many people as most had, but Orix was something far less common in the universe, for better or worse she had yet to decipher. Her eyes watched as the small blip on the radar showed her popping out of range, a small worry that Orix did not yet trust her to be fully exposed to her, still hiding out there in safety. 

With another sigh, she walked away from her display and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall before flopping down on her back. The ceiling was her only friend now. Besides maybe Mint. And Veri, if she wanted to include a cephalon who had to like her. The AI programming they had was complicated, but she had figured out enough to make various tweeks to add or subtract minor things. And Mint was a Warframe. He had his own personality, but not like she craved. _Orix has it. She has what I crave. Something I never knew I craved._

As her eyes closed, her thoughts began to drift. _What is next…_ The Void encircled Orix, and while her understanding of manipulating Void energies on a smaller scale, such as herself, was simple to figure out, she lacked the raw experience of the Void as she so often did her best to avoid her connection to the Void as much as possible. She knew, of course, the irony of that constant choice and who she was.

Vhessa stood back up and began removing her clothes for bed. She was beat, and as much as she realized she enjoyed Orix’s company, she was not used to the pressure of social interactions. With all of her garments stacked neatly beside her bed, she slip in, wrapping herself in the several blankets that covered the bed. The lights began to slowly dim until they were completely off. “Thanks Veri,” she whispered. 

“Rest well, Operator. I will alert you if there are any negative changes in Mint’s condition.” Sweet smells began to seep into her. Veri had begun doing several small things automatically that she had done on her own. Her first time on Cetus had caused her to become obsessed with the burnable sticks that they called incense to produce pleasant smells. Copying some of the organic properties, she was able to replicate it into her ship and push the chosen smells where she wanted. For her, sleep was a dark place. The pleasant smells helped remind her that she was here, in this world that she longed to protect.

Eyelids began the droop as the pushed back exhaustion finally overtook her. Vhessa smiled, relief that everything had ended without anything catastrophic consequences becoming permanent. The embrace of her dreams took her, drifting.

_**Leave her.**_

She shook awake, confused and sweating. Sitting up, her head did a sweep of the room. “Vari, do a scan for any unauthorized lifeforms aboard the ship, before I head to sleep.”

There was a brief pause. “No unauthorized lifeforms have been detected, Operator. However, you have already been sleeping for a quarter Earth cycle.”

Vhessa shook her head, trying to shake the feeling she had felt, trying to remember _how_ it felt. It felt so short, but the presence of those two words pressed into her memory. Had she not dreamt? Or maybe should simply could not remember and that was the end of the dream she had been having, causing her to wake. It would be no surprise if she had dreamt something involving Orix, some stress telling her to run away.

A great pressure wrapped around her throat and pushed her into the bed, sinking from the pressure. She reached for her throat but found no tangible object forcing her down. She kicked, trying to free herself or sit up to no avail. A whisper came, cold on her ear.

_**If you don’t leave her, stop making her new toys. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t betray me, little Tenno.**_

Vhessa felt herself begin to scream, gasping for air in between. She felt herself held up, pulled off of the bed, toes barely scraping the blankets. 

_**If you do that, little Tenno, we won’t have to see each other again.**_

She felt herself pulled up another foot, nearly to the ceiling of her personal chambers, and then released. She bounced off her bed and tumbled lightly onto the floor. 

On her hands and knees, she panted, fear overtaking her and causing her to freeze. _What….that feeling...that…_ She knew the Void had been here in force. Her mind raced for solutions, but the fear cracked her resolve and overtook her. Whatever it was had made it very clear not to do what she had been trying to do to Orix, but she imagined any other resistance to it would not be met kindly, with no way to fight against it.

She got up, trying to solidify herself against her panic and reached for the communication panel before pausing. _She’ll think I’m crazy._ Her arm went limp in defeat. For once, she felt there was nothing she could do. Nothing to fight, something completely out of her logical grasp. As Orix appeared in her mind once more, she felt a pang of sadness. _Run, or lie._ She was good at one, not so much the other. 

As she curled into a ball, the waves of sobbing overtook her. As she felt the numbness come as the sobs subsided, she stood up and walked out of her personal chambers. She could feel the cold floor on her bare feet, something she couldn’t remember ever feeling before. “Veri, please turn up the heat for a little while, I don’t feel like putting any garments on for a bit.”

“Very well, Operator.” 

Vhessa walked into the Transference room and got into the pod. As it closed, she reached out for her connection to Mint. _We got some work to do bud. Some research._ The symbiotic response from Mint confirming was comforting to her. Mint walked out of his medical chamber. The armor was fixed, while the wounds on the inside were mostly healed. Moving around a bit to make sure he was as well as her scans had said, Mint made his way down to the drop ship dock.

\---

Mint bowed as soon as Ivogora’s eyes made notice of him. “Darling! You return, and so soon. I hope you have been well.” She immediately went behind her and pulled out a couple books along with a datacore. “I don’t have as much as usual, though I have to admit I’m not used to a return visit so quickly. What is the occasion?”

The modulated voice rang out of Mint. “Something different than usual. I’m more than happy to pick up what you have already, as I’m sure they could be of aid, but I require something a little darker than usual.”

Ivogora cocked her head slightly. “Darker, you say? You’ve never said such a thing before, little one.”

Vhessa felt a shudder at the use of litte. Suddenly the word was not as innocent as it used to be. “Yes, but my, ah, studies have led me to a dead end that may require some more physical means than usual.” Mint grabbed a pouch and put it on the table. “Happily paid in advance plus some extra. I’m not sure if this kind of thing is hard, or possibly even dangerous to acquire, but I know you have some interesting connections.”

Ivogora laughed and took the bag, this time not looking through it. “Yes, well, ex-lovers can be fun to pull information out of.” She chuckled softly to herself, taking a moment to look back. “So, what is it you are looking for?”

Mint straightened up, portraying the seriousness of the request. “I need all information relating to the Orokin ship, Zariman Ten-Zero and any papers that go into the the specifics of the research being performed, the reason for the participants, and what outcomes they were predicting. Secondly, I need information on intervoid dimensional travel, theoretical and practiced, including what would relate to the Zariman Ten-Zero.”

Ivogora stood up straight midway through her request, eyes becoming focused. “What you request, anyone finding such relics of information would certainly keep it for themselves, or sell to the highest bidder. I would imagine many Corpus businessmen at the highest ranks would have what you are seeking. While possible a few are in Grineer hands, they too may have simply sold them off in deals.” Her hand found her chin as she began thinking. In a snap movement, her eyes met Mint’s. “Triple the payment you have here.”

There was a brief silence as Vhessa processed that statement. It contrasted the often humble appearance of Ivogora. Whatever she had begun digging in, whoever she knew was in deep. “Done. I’ll have it to you by the end of the day. How long until you think you’ll have something?”

“Now.” Ivogora turned around, using a key to unlock a box buried underneath several other piles of clutter, and pulled out a small datacore. She held it out for Mint to take. “He’ll want a much bigger payment, but he won’t mention it until he’s free and clear of his current position.”

Mint took the datacore, eyeing it. “Who is it?”


	10. Chapter 10

Once you knew where it was, the location was easy to find. _Though, I suppose, space is large enough that unless you know where a hidden place is, good luck finding it if it’s cloaked._ Part of her had wanted to ask Orix to accompany her, but she still did not know what, or who, or honestly how something was threatening her, and at the moment, keeping farther away from her felt like the best course of action for her to figure out a solution. 

Docking her drop ship did not require any special clearance. It opened up, and let her dock, closing behind her. The core she had had been pinged, and must be an item that was not expected to fall into random hands. As Mint walked up the walk from the dock, however, the doors were closed, and three guards were walking up to meet him. Two guards stood back and stopped as one continued forward and stopped a few paces away.

“Business?”

Vhessa immediately began trying to formulate formal responses. “I, ah…” The words sounded even stranger she thought coming out of Mint. “I am in search of very specific information that most would not share out in public. I have been led here by a friend, given a datacore with these coordinates. That is all I know, besides the name Matron.” 

The guard closest to her nodded, and turned back to look at the other two. One of them seemed to start communicating via a comm, having a short conversation. The other fallen back guard and the one closest to Mint kept their eyes trained forward. After a few moments, the guard who had been talking spoke forward. “They’re clear. Let them in. Personal referral from one of our field agents.” The two back guards turned their backs and walked towards the slowly opening, heavily grinding steel doors. 

The one left put its weapon down around its side hanging by a strap and held out a hand. Mint clasped it and shook confidently. “Welcome,” the guard said, “To the Lunar Rail. Enjoy your stay, and keep yourself in line.” Following suit, turned and walked towards the open doors. Mint followed while looking around at the dock. It wasn’t run down, but it was very totalitarian. It had its purpose, and it did it well. The walk was uneventful, and as soon as Mint was on the other side, the doors began to close, one guard to her side using the controls. 

Mint looked at the guard. “Why are you closing the doors behind me?”

She chuckled. “While we don’t expect trouble, we’d rather not have an easy escape route.” She looked up from the controls as the door finished on its own. “First time here, Tenno? Not like the other places you’ve been, I assure you.” A sly smile crept across her face, the only piece of the guard Mint could see, helmet and visor covering the rest, again, not fancy but looking well made and up to the task of a battle. 

“Well, yes, it is my first time. Sorry if that question was out of line.” Vhessa felt the first thread of uncertainty begin to weave around herself. Unsure of what to do, she bowed. “I promise to cause no trouble.” 

The guard chuckled again as she turned and began walking away, waving a hand off to her side at Mint. “That’s what all the trouble makers say. Have fun!”

Mint shouted back. “Fun?” 

An ‘ahem’ was heard from the side. Looking to the side, a gentleman dressed in the same guard attire stood at attention. “The Matron is ready to see you. Do you have your first deposit?” 

Mint pulled out the datacore card, pulling up the display and entering in the 500k credit allowance for the transaction and handed it to the guard. He used a small circular platform that also broadcast a holographic display. After a few command entries, he handed it back. “Thank you for your business. Right this way.” He pocketed the device and began walking down the barren hallway. 

Their trip took nearly half of an Earth hour, weaving in and out of various hallways, left and right turns. Vhessa tried to remember the pattern but halfway in, she began to feel this was a tactic to disorient visitors and help hide locational information of various sections except for people who were either regularly here or called the Lunar Rail home. 

The guard suddenly stopped and turned, facing a closed, standard sized door. Knocking hard three times against the steel, he waited. Mint stood behind, looking around, noticing little decoration or indication that this was an important room. _This place is built for a seige, hard enough to find as it is. No wonder I’ve never heard of it._ An intercom buzzed to life to the right of the door. 

“Cockatiel.” 

The guard turned his head towards the intercom. “Forest herring.”

The door hissed and slid up instead of to the side like many of the previous doors they had travelled through. The guard walked in, and before Mint could, a scanning array appeared across the door. Remembering the previous precautions, Vhessa walked through, knowing a Warframe was no small matter at any location.

Even with Mint’s Warframe ability, the room took time to perceive. Sitting on a throne like seat, a entity sat there. Humanoid in shape, it pulsed with streams of a light electrical blue energy, pulses echoing out in circular patterns in magenta, all on a canvas of solid grey. Below, Mint’s footsteps set of a chain reaction of lights, pulsing through, bouncing throughout the rooms walls, main lines connecting back to the entity. The first step caused the entities streams of color the focus down the center of it with a few other lines across its body, like main arteries. It’s head continued the full stream, thick cords plugged into the back sending back and forth the patterns of light. _The sheer amount of data. What if I was a Cephalon. How much more could I learn?_

“Hello, Tenno. Your mask is lovely. Come closer, and let us talk.” The voice came from the entity, but it boomed from the room. It’s head held no humanoid facial features, no noticeable audio devices broadcasting the room. The room was it, it was the room, at least at this very moment. 

The guard that had escorted Mint stood to the side of the door. Mint continued forward, now noticed the two perfectly still guards. They did not move. Mint could hardly tell if they even drew breath, or their eyes wanted to blink at any moment. Only a few paces from the entity, Mint stopped and awaited, unsure of any kind of normal procedure for such an encounter. 

The lights below Mint pulsed. The entity spoke again. “No matter how many times I work with these frames of yours, even the ones in my employ, I must say, there is something so _unsettling_ about not seeing who you truly talk to. I can read your frame, but I cannot read _you,_ Tenno, and that makes me uneasy, if you can believe that.” An arm reached up, huge and toned. A hand that while lacking traditional fingers, had long finger-like claws longer than Mint’s head. One motioned to come closer. Mint was about to take a step before the voice came again. 

“Oh no, Tenno. Not your mask. You, dear. The Matron wants to see you.” Vhessa felt she saw it cock its head in anticipation, almost an aura of enjoyment out of the ordeal. She could feel the chill of the Voidbeing around her neck again and the fear it made her feel to be out in the open, exposed, no longer safe aboard her Orbiter. _No where’s safe anymore. If I stop here, nothing will change._

Mint knelt to one knee, fists against the ground. Void energy shot out of Mint, transposing the form of Vhessa from the no longer safety of her ship into a strange place that almost felt safer. She stood there, standing nearly three feet shorter than Mint, wearing a standard Transference suit, staring up at the Matron. The guards at the sides made no motion of surprise as she would have expected, unsure if this showed their resolve and loyalty, or if this was a more commonplace occurrence than simply she.

The Matron leaned forward, their face inches from hers. A single finger was placed on the center of her head. “Ah yes, I can see this is no trick. Hello Tenno. It is nice to meet you. What shall I call you, now?” Data lights pulsed from its finger. 

Vhessa felt herself shudder, cold but not. “You c-can call me Vhessa.” She wanted to bow but felt herself instead stand there stiff, and instead hiccuped loudly. The finger on top of her began to dance little circles, causing her hair to swirl slightly. 

“Ah, darling, you are so worried. That is a rare sight among Tenno. This interests me greatly, as anything that can unsettle one as yourself is a rare occurrence indeed. While I don’t want to intrude, especially in such a worried state, but please tell me what concerns you so and perhaps we can make a...mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Her eyes darted around, knowing that while transferring back and running was an option, one that as far as she could tell wouldn’t result in any conflict, for once running was no longer a solution but a deterement. This was a fight she had to take. With a deep breath, she chose to relax. The Matrons hand enveloped her head, but unlike the unwelcome visitor from the Void, it was surprisingly kind. She leaned into the hand, one hand grabbing on to help support herself as for the first time in over a week, felt herself truly ready to take matters into her own hands.

“Matron.” Vhessa’s head was still being cradled. “I know a lot of the Origin System knows bits and pieces about the Void. But how much do you know about the reasons the Orokin had for doing what they did to the Zariman Ten-Zero?” 

Almost a hearty chuckled erupted, lights pinging around the room as syntaxes began to connect and flow. “I know a fair bit, Tenno darling. But I feel that by helping you, I could know much, _much_ more.” The Matron retracted his hand, Vhessa nearly falling over in her calm stupor. “So, where shall we begin?”

Vhessa stood up straight, her face serious. “How much do you know about something we Tenno refer to as ‘The Man In The Wall’? Because, it seems, there is more than one consciousness in the Void we need be wary about.”

The Matrons hands slammed down on both of the arm rests, standing up to their full height, towering above Vhessa, over twice her height. “Now this!” The entire room lit up. “Darling, I cannot tell who is going to enjoy this more. Come, let’s discuss.” A guard pulled a chair over next to the Matron’s throne, the chair comically small compared. It motioned to sit down, and Vhessa did. 

Vhessa looked up straight at the Matron. “Let’s begin.”

\---

Orix felt the sweat drip down her face. The training room continued throwing all it could simulate at her as she jumped off every surface, decimating the battleground. Melee and firearms, blasts and shrapnel; all of it missed her by millimeters. She felt as there was no longer a challenge in sparring matches. Everything she had to do now had to be out there, fighting live targets. In mid dodge as a simulated grenade exploded against the face of another simulated combatant, she shouted out. “Petra, stop simulation.”

Everything around her immediately phased out of view. Orix’s back found a wall and she slid down into a sitting position, panting, but barely. She preferred the simulations be as accurate as possible to what she had fought before. Turning up their physical speeds could cause issues with the closely simulated behavior data that Cephalon Simaras had collected. But even on the largest groups in the toughest environments, it became a dance of death that Orix had memorized and perfected. 

_**Need a hand, Tenno?** _

Orix looked up and saw a form that the familiar voice had come from. Standing before her was a Tenno form. She lept sideways to its flank and stood her ground. Her eyes focused closely, watching for any movement. “Why the fuck are you here?”

The being kept its body, nearly a foot taller than her, facing where Orix had been. Its head turned,, a sly smile across its face. It appeared to be a male Tenno, but she knew the voice just before noticing him was no coincidence. “I thought you might want a hand at sparring, little insect.”

Orix’s eyes squinted in growing fury. “Why would I want to spar with you.” She did not make it sound like a question. 

He sidestepped, now facing her. “Nothing here that will challenge you, and I’ve watched enough of your style to give a little more of a fight than you seem to be able to practice with.” A smile spread across his face. “How about it?” He took a combative stance, lowering himself. 

There was no hesitation or further answers for him. Orix pushed hard with one heel and lept at him, the palm of her hand preparing to smash into the front of his face. In surprising fidelity, he slowly limped to the right of her, a foot raising to kick from under her as her first strike was about to miss. 

Orix blasted Void energy down, propelling her into the air, still with her forward momentum, bringing her to the wall of the training room. The man turned to face her again, still in his combative stance, unmoved from his original position. Fury infected her thoughts, only exponentially brought forth from the excitement she felt from prey that was not so easily felled. _I refuse to feel what you made me feel again. I am control._

She bathed herself in the Void, dashing forward invisible. Inside the Void, however, she saw something much different. Standing ten feet tall, a dark, monstrous being stood before her. As it caught her off guard she came back out of the Void, skittering on the floor away from him as she prepared herself for another attack. As she came back, she drew upon the flow she had pulled from the Void and let it seep into her. Orix slammed both hands into the ground beside her, leaping forward with great speed. She threw out a punch, expecting him to dodge like he had, but then blasting energy out of her other hand, brought her elbow down onto his head where he had ducked to avoid the attack. 

A sickening crack echoed throughout the room as Orix landed on the other side of him, watching his reaction. Below, drops of blood began to create a pool. He turned, blood running down from his hair where Orix’s blow had met him. “My, my, Tenno. I didn’t realize we were playing for _**keeps.**_ ” The last word became a blur as speed she had never witnessed before approached her. A fist uppercut her, throwing her into the air. The pain reflected through her body, the rhythm to the dance of death now playing in the room. 

Orix landed on the ceiling in a crouched position. Bounding off, she raced back down the ground where he stood. Their blows began dancing around each other, speed and efficiency shown in both. Her swings missed, but so did his. Their dance made its way around their room, several training walls shattering into dust from the sheer force held behind the combat. 

She reached for his arm to try and swing him off balance. Her fingers found purchase as she pulled on the arm, swinging around to his backside, her legs wrapping around his head. Orix swung her momentum to try and swing him up, using her Void energy to pull her upper body to the ground. His form was flung up into the air as Orix backflipped back up right, kicking off the ground to meet his body midair.

The voice came back in the way it had before. _**If only Natah could see you now.**_ _**Would she shed a tear?**_

Her fist cracked against his abdomen, sinking several inches in as bones strained and cracked. “Fuck Natah.” He slammed into the ceiling as she cartwheeled back onto the ground and observed her opponent. 

His eyes opened, back still flat against the ceiling. “That’s interesting. Very, very interesting.” In incredible speed, he appeared to her right. Before she could react, he appeared to her left, Orix still focused to her right. He charged, tackling her with enough speed to be pinned against the wall to her right, head cracking against it. “But what do you do when you are losing, little insect?” He grabbed her hair and threw her head against the wall again. 

The world spun for Orix, all her strength unable to pull him off of her. She tried a blast of energy against his body but it seemed to disappear before having any effect. Her head echoed against the wall again. The vision she had of the room began to sparkle. Her ears rang. He held her in a way that prevented any of her current offensives from reaching him. With another crack of her head against the wall, he jammed his fingers into her lower abdomen, melting in with the smell of cardarizing flesh. 

She screamed, half in agony, half in the pure rush of unleashing her power. “ _I don’t lose!_ ” Her claws grew forth huge Void claws that warped the mutations she already had. They pulled him off of her, being held aloft by three claws pierced through his chest, neck, and shoulder. She swung her arm down, slamming him against the floor. Orix took a step forward away from the wall and looked down. A pool of her own blood was forming below her, running down her leg until dripping off at her bent knee. The energies began doing its work healing her wounds. She looked up as she heard clapping.

He walked towards her slowly, still clapping. “Well done, little insect. Our spar is complete. So much more _ferocity_ than I’ve seen from anything else. I’m impressed.” She took a few steps to her left so her back wasn’t anywhere close to the wall in case this was no longer a sparring match. He bent over, slowly running his finger across the pool of blood Orix had left. Rising it to his mouth, he outstretched his tongue, running it sideways down against his finger. He pondered for a moment. “Oh yes, this is quite what I was hoping for.”

Orix stood, expressionless. “And what is that, you freak.”

He turned his gaze back upon her. “Nothing you should concern yourself with, I assure you.” His smile returned. “I’ll be in touch.” His body vanished a flash of energy, leaving the room empty and motionless. 

Orix felt herself take a few now wobbly steps backwards towards the wall and slide down into a sitting position once again, the exhaustion finally washing over her as the encounter was finished. She could still feel where is fingers had ripped her open. A pang of fear took over her, realizing that he had probably been holding back, the image of what she saw in the Void burned into her memory. 

But the fear burned away as fuel. She smiled, and then began laughing hysterically. She now had a purpose to become even stronger. 

_Curse you Lotus. Should have killed us all._


End file.
